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Letter to incoming transfer students
To the New Members of the Class of 2010:
Welcome to the Class of 2010! We are very excited to have you at the Law School this fall. This letter includes important information that you will need as you prepare to join us - or if you are still considering whether to join us - this fall. We look forward to working with you to ensure that your transition to the Law School is as smooth as possible and that you have a productive and enjoyable two years with us. Please review all of these materials very carefully as they contain information regarding upcoming dates and deadlines of which you must be aware. Many of these materials are also available under the Related Links tab on the side of this page.
Orientation for transfer students will be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 with a program at the Law School in the morning and afternoon and then dinner with students and faculty. We will be sending more information closer to the date. Our Transfer Student Committee is looking forward to working with you and introducing you to the Law School. You are also certainly welcome to attend any of the orientation sessions held for incoming 1L students. Those sessions are scheduled on September 24-26, 2008. The schedule is available here.
If you will be applying for financial aid, please make sure that you complete the steps set forth in our 2008-2009 Financial Aid Memorandum as soon as possible. In addition, before you arrive, you should also start looking at the Student Handbook, which contains basic information about life at the Law School, academic policies, etc. It is undergoing revision this summer, along with our other publications, but the information remains relatively constant from year to year.
Chicago has many affordable housing options near campus. The Housing Section of our website contains information about graduate student housing offered by the University Housing Office, including a dorm two blocks from the Law School ("New Grad") and several apartment buildings all within a mile of the Law School and serviced by CTA buses that are free to University students. In addition, you will find information on Regents Park, a private building that is a popular choice for many students from the University community, as well as information about housing in other parts of the city.
Please review the Career Services Welcome Letter, Managing Fall On-Campus Interviewing Manual, and What Transfers Need to Know FAQ. The Fall Interviewing Program begins on September 3, 2008 and bidding for Fall On-Campus Interviews begins on August 1, 2008. Please take note of these dates and plan accordingly.
Transfer students are eligible to participate in our student-edited journals and our clinical programs. Please review the procedures for writing on to the University of Chicago Law Review, the Chicago Journal of International Law, and the University of Chicago Legal Forum. If you wish to participate in one of our clinical programs, please review the 2008 Clinic Transfer Letter and 2008 Clinic Summary and Information. In addition, you must return the 2008 Clinic Lottery Preference Sheet by August 29, 2008.
The Law School requires students to use laptops for all of their Law School exams. Your student financial aid allocation can be increased by $1500 to cover the cost of a laptop purchase (or other computer equipment you may need). Contact Cynthia Brewer at cynthiab@uchicago.edu or (773) 702-6056 if you have any questions about financing your laptop. Please see the Student Computing Memo from Ted Ressell, Director of Information Technology, detailing the recommended configurations for your laptop. If you have any questions regarding laptop computers, please do not hesitate to contact him at m-ressell@uchicago.edu. Also, you will need to obtain your CNetID and University E-mail Account. All students are required to do this at the outset of their University of Chicago career, although note that you will not be able to obtain your CNetID and University E-mail Account until you have accepted your offer of admission and are entered into our University systems. To obtain both of these items you can go to the CNET webpage. Next click on "Create your CNetID" and establish your e-mail account and directory password. Follow the instructions carefully. Please note that the CNetID serves as the basis for your official University e-mail address. Also, CNetIDs cannot be changed, so pick something that you will like for a long time and that can be used on your resume, in the Law School phone book, and for other types of correspondence. Since these accounts are password-protected, you need to establish a directory password. Remember your password. Do not share it, write it down, or save it on your computer. Please take care of this as soon as possible after you accept your offer.
Please look at this letter from the University Bursar's Office, which contains information about tuition billing, policies, and dates that will be helpful during the 2008-2009 academic year. If you were awarded loans, this letter also contains information about how those will be distributed. Bills will be mailed to your current address: please verify your current address prior to August 25, 2008. To verify or specify a different address for tuition bills, please go to the "Personal Information" section of the "Students" web area. Instructions on use of cMore are available there. (Note that you will need to have first claimed your University CNetID and established your password before you can proceed to verify or change any information on cMore; see directions above). The first Autumn bill is scheduled to be mailed on August 25, 2008 and payment is due on September 19, 2008. A special August Autumn billing address is available on the Personal Information page. Please continue to update your address as it changes throughout your career at the University of Chicago. If you have any questions, please contact the Bursar's Office at (773) 702-7086 or by e-mail at bursar@listhost.uchicago.edu.
By August 29, 2008, please obtain an official transcript for each undergraduate and graduate degree you have received and send these to the Admissions Office, The University of Chicago Law School, 1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637. Your transcripts must show that a degree was awarded. The American Bar Association rules prohibit submission of an LSDAS transcript in lieu of an official copy. You will not be able to register if your official transcript is not on file.
The University Parking Office manages campus parking lots and makes space available to incoming students, as space permits, on a first-come, first-served basis. If you wish to apply for parking, please contact the University parking office for information, or check on line http://facilities.uchicago.edu/transpparking for additional information
If you are living in New Grad, you can apply for parking there. Instructions on obtaining a New Grad Parking permit will be enclosed with your New Grad information packet, which will be mailed to you by the Graduate Student Housing Office in August. New Grad parking spaces are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. If demand exceeds supply for the New Grad lot, they will try to place students in the Kimbark or Chapin lots if space permits. Questions about parking at New Grad should be directed to the Real Estate Operations Office at (773) 753-2200.
Free street parking is available around the Law School for those who arrive early. Most nearby spots are taken by 8:00 am each day. The Law Lot (directly behind the Law School) is reserved parking, but it is open to all students beginning at 4:00 each afternoon (and all day on the weekend) so you have the option of parking on the street and moving your car into the lot for the evening if you will be at school late.
We produce a background sheet to help the members of your class get to know one another. The Class Profiles will be distributed at Orientation, make sure to specify that your profile is for the Class of 2010! You can complete the incoming student profile sheet on-line. Please complete this form by August 1, 2008.
Each year the Law School puts together a student/faculty face book (a.k.a., The Glass Menagerie). The Menagerie includes a picture of each student in the Law School, information about home towns, schools attended, and degrees received. This information is obtained from your Student Profile form. The Menagerie is given to all students at orientation and is provided to faculty, to employers interviewing at the Law School, to prospective students, and to alumni. Please send a recent photo, passport size (approximately 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches). We ask that all photos be received by August 1, 2008. You can mail your photos to the Admissions Office, The University of Chicago Law School, 1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637. While we prefer to receive a print photo, we know some of you may want to send the photo digitally, so the guidelines to do so are available on-line. If you send a digital image, please send it to glassmenagerie@law.uchicago.edu.
As a University of Chicago student, you have access to excellent health care at the Student Care Center (SCC) and the Student Counseling and Resource Service (SCRS). The SCC and SCRS are part of the University of Chicago Hospitals, named one of the best hospitals in America. The Student Health and Wellness Fee covers visits to the SCC and SCRS. Students who have chronic medical conditions should meet and establish a relationship with a primary care provider when they arrive on campus. To find out more about these services, visit http://scc.bsd.uchicago.edu/ or http://counseling.uchicago.edu/.
All students are required to have insurance coverage. You must either select the University-sponsored plan or show that you have comparable coverage. If you do not select the University-sponsored plan, please review your coverage carefully and familiarize yourself with your coverage including any restrictions, deductibles, and co-payments. Services other than visits to the SCC and SCRS are not covered by the Student Health Fee and will be billed to the patients and/or their insurance. This includes all laboratory testing, radiology, specialist visits, and emergency room care. Be sure to bring a copy of your insurance card with you to campus. More information regarding insurance is available here.
The State of Illinois requires entering students to provide proof of immunity to Measles (Rubeola), Mumps, Rubella (German measles), and Tetanus/Diphtheria. Proof of immunity varies from disease to disease. Carefully read the instructions on the immunization form available on-line. Have the form completed by a licensed provider and/or attach a copy of your childhood immunization record. This form needs to be completed by September 24, 2008. DO NOT SEND ORIGINAL IMMUNIZATION RECORDS. Return the immunization form to the immunization office as soon as possible:
University of Chicago HospitalsStudent Care Center Immunization Program 5841 South Maryland MC 3051 Chicago, IL 60637
In accordance with the Illinois State Code, if you have not completed the immunization requirement by registration time for your second quarter at the University of Chicago, you will not be able to register. If you have questions about the immunization requirement or immunization form, you may call the Student Immunization Office, (773) 702-9975, during regular business hours. The next e-mailing, which will be in September, will include information about the class schedule (which will also be on the web).
As you make your transition to the University of Chicago Law School, please feel free to contact us. We join the rest of the Law School community in looking forward to meeting you and welcoming you. In the interim, best wishes for an enjoyable summer!
Sincerely,
Michele Richardson Dean of Students (773) 702-3955 mrichardson@uchicago.edu
Ann Killian Perry Assistant Dean for Admissions (773) 834-4425 akperry@uchicago.edu
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